Do New York Hospitality Employers Have to Reimburse Employees for Laundering Their Own Uniforms?

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Jun 16, 2017

Do New York Hospitality Employers Have to Reimburse Employees for Laundering Their Own Uniforms?

Posted By
Mahir Nisar Attorney at Law

New York State imposes special
overtime and wage regulations on the hospitality industry, i.e. restaurants and hotels.
This includes not only minimum wage rates, but also rules for crediting
employee tips, meals allowances, and even requiring additional pay related
to employee uniforms. Under New York State Department of Labor regulations,
if a hospitality employer “does not maintain required uniforms for
any employee,” that is, if the employees must launder their own
uniforms, the employees may be entitled to “uniform maintenance
pay.”

Dispute Over Appropriate Number of Shirts Heads to Trial

The actual uniform maintenance pay depends on the employer's location
and the total hours the employee works. For example, a restaurant in Nassau
County with more than 10 employees must give an employee who works more
than 30 hours a week uniform maintenance pay of $12.45 per week during
2017. However, an employer is exempt from making these additional payments
if the uniforms are “made of 'wash and wear' materials”
that the employee can launder at home “with other personal garments.”

If you work in the hospitality industry and your employer fails to provide
uniform maintenance pay, you may have the right to sue for damages. A
federal court in upstate New York is considering such a case. The court recently denied the hospitality
employer's motion to dismiss the case.

The defendant operates a gas station in Ithaca, New York that provides
food service, putting it within the umbrella of the hospitality industry.
The plaintiff worked the overnight shift. She was required to wear a company-branded
polo shirt. During the course of her employment, she was provided with
two shirts, which she had to launder herself.

Separately, the plaintiff has alleged that she was the victim of a hostile
work environment and that the company retaliated against her when she
complained. She sued the defendant over the harassment and retaliation
as well as failure to make required uniform maintenance payments.

On the latter issue, the defendant claimed the “wash and wear”
exception applied to the polo shirts it issued to the plaintiff. While
the plaintiff conceded the shirts were made of “wash and wear”
materials and could be laundered at home, she noted the state regulations
also require an employer to furnish employees with a “sufficient”
number of uniforms “consistent with the average number of days per
week worked by the employee.”

The defendant argued that two shirts were sufficient given how often the
plaintiff worked. The plaintiff disagreed, telling the court she was only
initially given one shirt, which she had to launder multiple times per
week due to the “messy nature of the food service work at the gas
station.” Given this factual dispute, the judge denied the defendant's
motion for summary judgment and said the plaintiff's uniform maintenance
pay claim could proceed to trial.

Has Your Employer Illegally Withheld Pay?

Hospitality workers in New York often have to deal with difficult working
conditions. They should not hesitate to assert all of their rights to
compensation under state and local law. If your employer is not paying
you what they should and you need assistance from an experienced
New York employment law attorney, contact the Law Offices of Mahir S. Nisar today.